BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (PA) – Argentina’s revolutionary abortion law comes into force on Sunday under the watchful eye of women’s groups and government officials, who hope to ensure its full implementation, despite opposition from conservative and church groups.
Argentina has become the largest nation in Latin America to legalize elective abortion after its Senate, on December 30, passed a law guaranteeing the procedure until the 14th week of pregnancy and beyond in cases of rape or when a woman’s health is in danger.
The vote was hailed as a triumph for the South American feminist movement, which could pave the way for similar actions in the socially conservative, heavily Roman Catholic region.
But Pope Francis issued a last-minute appeal before the vote, and church leaders criticized the decision. Proponents of the law say they expect lawsuits from anti-abortion groups in conservative provinces in Argentina and some private health clinics could refuse the procedure.
“Another huge task awaits us,” said Argentina’s Minister for Women, Gender and Diversity Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, who acknowledged that there will be obstacles to the full implementation of the law across the country.
Gómez Alcorta said a telephone line would be created “for those who cannot access abortion to communicate.”
The Argentine Catholic Church rejected the law, and conservative groups of doctors and lawyers called for resistance. Doctors and health professionals may claim conscientious objections to having an abortion, but they cannot claim the right if the life or health of a pregnant woman is in danger.
A statement signed by the Consortium of Catholic Doctors, the Catholic Bar Association and other groups urged doctors and lawyers to “resist with nobility, firmness and courage the rule that legalizes the abominable crime of abortion.”
The anti-abortion group Unidad Provida also called on doctors, nurses and technicians to fight for “freedom of conscience” and promised to “accompany them in all necessary processes”.
By law, private health centers that do not have doctors willing to perform abortions must send women seeking abortion to clinics that will do so. Any civil servant or health authority who unjustifiably delays an abortion will be punished by imprisonment from three months to one year.
The National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, an umbrella group for organizations that have fought for legal abortion for years, often wearing green scarves in protest, vowed to “continue to monitor compliance.”
“We trust the feminist networks we have built over the decades,” said Laura Salomé, a member of the movement.
A previous draft law on abortion was rejected by Argentine parliamentarians in 2018 by a narrow margin. But in the December vote, he was backed by the center-left government, spurred on by the so-called “piba” revolution in Argentine slang for “girls,” and opinion polls showing opposition softened.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. In the northern province of Salta, a federal judge this week rejected a measure filed by a former lawmaker calling for the law to be suspended because the legislative branch has exceeded its powers. Opponents of abortion cite international treaties signed by Argentina, which are committed to protecting life from conception.
Gómez Alcorta said that the pending criminal charges against more than 1,500 women and doctors who have had abortions should be lifted. She said the number of women and doctors detained “was not so much”, but did not provide a number.
“The women’s ministry will take the lead” to end these cases, she said.
Tamara Grinberg, 32, who had a clandestine abortion in 2012, celebrated that from now on “a girl can go to the hospital to say ‘I want to have an abortion’.”
She said that when she had an abortion, very few people helped her. “Today there are many more support networks … and the decision is respected. When I did, no one respected my decision. ”
While abortion is already allowed in other parts of Latin America – such as Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City – its legalization in Argentina is expected to reverberate throughout the region, where dangerous clandestine procedures remain the norm half a century after a law. Women of choice was guaranteed in the US
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AP journalists Víctor Caivano and Yésica Brumec contributed to this report.